Radiator core for automobile cooling systems



Dec. 29, 1931. wpw. MUlR 1,833,563

' I RADIATOR CORE FOR AUTOMOBILE COOLING SYSTEMS Filed April 27, @929 MW Q I enfo W mm Patented Dec. 29, 1931 wniznrnerron' w. BETTIE-,OF Loonroar, new ros n,

ASSIGNOB T HARRISON RADIATOR GE NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW- YORK nanraron conn ron anroivroernn ooonrne srs'rnivfs Application. filed April This invention relates to the cores of radia- 1 tors for the cooling systems of internal combustion engines or the like and has for its object to provide a more eliici-ent construction of a radiator core and lncludlng a plurality which is less costly to manufacture than heretoforeproposed; 1 V

l l ith these and "other objects'in view the invention consists int-he novel detailsof con struction and combinations of parts as will be morefully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in' the claims.

'Reterring to. the accompanying drawings forming'a partof this specification in which like numerals'designate like parts in all the views"' "Fig.1 is afront elevational view somewhat diagrammatic illustrating a radiator for an automobile containing a core and built accord ing to this inventiony i I Fig. 2 illustrates the assembly of a portion those of core units, said figure being in vertical de-o tail partly in section to the'better illustrate the construction, and said figure also mcluding elemental parts going to make up the as- 1 sembly;

Figs. 3 and t show respectively a top plan View and perspective view of the portion of the separator strip shown in Fig. 2; f

Fig. 5isa perspective view somewhat diagrammatic illustrating an assembly of core units for a radiator requiring larger water cooling capacity andcsuch for example as found in airplanes or automobiles'ofjex tremely high horse power; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view across one ofthe water tubes taken as on the line 66of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of tie arrows. i

In order that this invention may be-the better understood it is said that heretofore radiator core constructions have been 'such that either vertical or substantially horizontal water tubes have been formed which permit a passage of water therethrough with insuliicient cooling thereof under some conditions. This has been caused by several factors such as inadequate dimensions or capacity, insufiicientradiatingsurfacefor the transfer'ofheat from the cooling fluid to the atmosphere, a too 19559. Serial No. 358,738.

direct passage for the cooling fluid through the radiator whereby insulficient tune is given tothe fluidfor complete cooling thereof, and other factors which will be. readily observed 7 and'understood by those skilled in the art. The purpose of this invention is toprovide a construction which is somewhat similar to prlor constructions 111 that the core un ts, are made from extremely thln metal strips which are preformed by crimping into shapes which r will readily fit one another or which willfit separatorstrips provided therefor, all to the end that the passage'of cooling fluidthrough theradiator core will'be broken, interri'ipted,

. or otherwise afiected so theta-transfer of more heat to the'atmosphere is accomplished because of the prolongation of the passage" and increased turbulence of the fluid through the tubes of the core.

A stillfurther object of the'invention is-to provide a construction offering less resistance but more turbulence to the air passing through the core forabsorbing the heatgiven 01? from the cooling fluid.

This invention is particularly applicable to radiators having substantially hexagonally formed air cells in its core, it being under-j stood that other forms may be readily devised which will still fallwithin the limits of this invention. The actual formation of these cells should be described so that the invention may .be'the better understood and therefore the following is directed to a disclosure of such construction. V

Extremely thin sheets of soft metal, having high heat conductivity and such for ex- I ample as copper or brass, are formed into nar-,

row strips of about 2 to 3 inches width. This strip which is substantially continuous is fed from a roll through pressure rollers the surfaces of whlch constitute dies to impress in said strip a plural number of troughdike in- V dentions 1 extending lengthwise of the strip, and to impress in the surfaceso-f these troughs at spaced intervals transverse rows of smaller indentions 2. v Said rows are spaced from each other so that, in its continued passage through the forming machine, the core strip comes in contact withit'oldingdies which depress the portions of the strip between the rows of smaller indentions and then these depressed portions are pinched together at the sides of the strip to form double thickness fins 3 extending laterally from the plane of the major portion of the strip.

The indentions 2 are substantially of spherical formation and the core strip is so fashioned by the dies that in each row of indentions there is aridge, or lip, or meeting oint of metal which extends outwardly beyond the fins 3, and the metal. forming such ridges has a surface angularity which renders the same as sides of a hexagon. That is to say from Figures 2 and 6 it will be seen that the edges 4c of the core unit are angularly disposed to each other, and the degree of angularity is that between two adjacent sides of a hexagon. The areas 4 extend only about three sixteenths of an inch from the edge of the unit strip, or for a distance suiiicient only for-soldering two adjacent strips together.

The strip so formed is then cut into lengths slightly more than twice the dimension of the finished core measured from top to bottom thereof. In other words, if the core as completed is to be about twenty-four inches in height then these strips are cut into lengths of about fifty inches. The purpose of this is to permit these preformed strips to be folded upon themselves as clearly indicated in the drawings, the surplus metal being taken up in the folds 6 at the top and bottom so that when the ends of the strip are brought together and interlocked in the single joint as shown at 9 in Fig. 2 there will be formed a core unit of a length equal to the height of the finished radiator. A predetermined number of units are then assembled to form the finished core indicated at 10 in Fig. 1 and ossessing the required heat conducting area.

ivision or separator strips may be placed between the fins of each unit as desired to assist in the radiation of heat as well as to strengthen the core. The fins form portions of the wall structure'of the air cells 8, the remainder of the core unit and the separator strips forming the other walls of said cells. The troughs 1 constitute the main portions of tubes to conduct the cooling fluid, such as water, from side to side of the radiator during which travel the heat from said fluid is abstracted and transferred to the air passing through the air cells. The formation of the radiator core unit strips may be readily understood from the foregoing and with reference to prior issued patents such for example as 1,169,481 granted Jan. 25, 1916, to Herbert G. Harrison for process of making automobile radiator sections.

Referring to Fig. 2 there is disclosed a radiator core construction in which a flat strip of very thin metal is employed which has been previously passed through forming rolls as above described to impress therein the troughs 1 as well as rows of substantially spherical indentions 2 with folds constituting fins 3 separating the rows of indentations. From Fig. 5 it will be observed that in the formation of the troughs 1 there are created flanges 4 at each side edge of the core strip, said flanges having plane surfaces for the purpose of securing one radiator core unit to its adjacent unit. That is to say, there are providedaplurality of these flanges 4 the surfaces of all of which are hexagonally disposed so that when one unit is brought up against an adjacent unit the two units may be secured together as with solder to form sides of hexagonal air cells 8 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 the coincident troughs of the adjacent units forming the water tubes or passages 5 therebetween.

Radiator constructions are so well known that the above will be readily understood by one skilled in the art particularly with reference to the drawings, but it might here be stated that these preformed strips are folded back upon themselves creating a fold such as shown at G in Fig. 2 and a se arator strip as shown at 7 is inserted between the folded over portions of the strip and against which the fins 3 will contactingly rest so that as the heat ed fluid, such as water, courses down the water tube 5, as idicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, the heat from said water will be taken up by the thin metal of the core and this heat will be transferred through the fins 3 and separator plate 7 to the atmosphere which is passing through the spaces 8 known as the air cells of the radiator. In other words, by the foregoing description it will be understood that a core is formed providing closed water pa. gas 5, and openings 8 for the atmosphere which are not closed at their ends, whereby said atmosphere is free to through said spaces and over the surfaces of the metal forming the radiator core.

It is to be observed from ,2, 3 and 4; that the separator strip 7 comprises a plane piece of metal which has been cut an d or; pan ded in opposite directions as disclosed in the U. S. Letters Patent #1320545 March 27, 1917 to Herbert G. Harrison and entitled Automobile radiator and that the fins 3 are disposed in staggered relation with each other on opposite sides of said strip. this construction the indentions 2 are likewise made to assume staggered posit with respect to each other whereby the water in the tube 5 will travel in a zig-zag path instead of in a truly vertical path. Th.-. is clearl f cated by the arrows in Fig. 2 and therefore no furth 1' description is deemed necessary except to state that by this construction not only is the length of the water column increased from the top to the bottom of the core but the water while passing through the tube is subjected to a greater turbulence than in constrl'ictions heretofore known, whereby an in creased transfer of heat to the metalof the core is accomplished, without unduly restrict-- ing the flowthrough each tube; As, a result a higlmnineantemperature ofth'e metal of the entire core is obtained which insures maximum heat transfer to the air.

Also it is tobe observed that the indentions, asclearly seen in Figs. 2,'5--and v6 are sub stantially semispherical in form and of a size maximum to the dimension between the fins 3 whereby practically all the m'etal between said fins is deflected out of the axial line of the water tubeb to create the greatest possible degree of deflection of the water column in the core.- 'lVith reference-to Fig. 6 which is a horizontal sectionalview ofthe parts shown in Fig. Qitwill be seenthat should any foreign matter pass over with the cooling fluid from theengine andbecomewedged in any one of the indentions 2, the. continued passage of water is not affected since the following flow will pass to either side of the'obstruction; other words, by this construction there is provided not only a means of conducting the heated fluid through the core from thetop to the bottom thereofybut there isprovided additional means of automatically increasing the. cooling effect by making the indentions lie in staggered relation with-each other and further there is provioed means for permitting the water in its flow from the top to the bottom of the core to travel laterally from one vertical pair of indentions to another in a direction from the front to the back of the radiator whereby the maximum cooling effect is had. Also it will be evident from the draw ings especially Figures 5 and 6 that the 3.11'

' in passing through the core will contact with the spherical walls of the rows of indentions 2 with the result that the air column w1ll be I disturbed, broken up, or otherwise affected to create a greater turbulence thereof than if there were no indentions' Therefore there results a greater absorption by the air of the of extremely thin metal, and in practice they Each are made of brass as well as copper. core unit is formed as above described but it should here be stated that the joint 9 of each is soldered to close one wall of the water tul e against leakage. After the parts have been assembled to form the entire radiator core, a clamp is placed around the assembly and pressure applied to hold the parts in tight contactlng engagement. The core with the encompassing clamp. is then laid in a bath of solder so that the entire surfaces 4, see Fig. 4, will take up the solder and thus secure the core as a unified mass. The assemblage is then turned over and the'other side immersed so that the solder may affect the surfaces 4 of the opposite side ofth-e radiator; all as will be readily understood. The clamp is removed afterthe solder has cooled and the unified radiator mass placed within 7 its encompassing shell and'thus made ready for attachment to the automobile chassis.

In Fig. 5 itwill'be seen that betweenthe sides of the core unit, at equal spacings, there are formed series of raised portions 18 the purposebeing to use thesame as abutments to add strength to the core assembly as well as to keep separated the opposite walls of a water tube 5.

This invention is not tobe confused with the inventions disclosed in my co-p end1ng applications Serial Nos. 358-5725 and 358,737,

each'entitled Radiator core for automobile cooling systems and each filed concurrently herewith. That is to say,'in application Serial No.358,725 there is disclosed a radiator core having square air cells formed by core: strips bent around andseparated byan in-l.

termediate or separatorfsirip which is perfectly plane. In other words, said separator strip is in its original sheet formation and is inserted between the fins of the core strips and is unsecured to said fins except at the extreme ends thereof. Further the water tubes are formed by a plurality of spherical indentions] in the surface of the core strips and these strips with their indentions arev so-assembled thatposit-ive turbulence is given the water coursing through said tubes. Not only this but positive turbulence is given to therair passing through theiaircells due to the spherical formation of said'indentions.

' On the other hand in application Serial No. 358,737 there is disclosed acorehaving hexagonally formed air cells instead of square ones. Also the core strips of this application are assembled to form core units 'Which are devoid of any separating strips therebetween whereby a greater number of water tubes is made possible in a core of the same frontal areaxAlso the fins are so formed that there may be water therein extending in aflateral plane from. the main water column whereby a more direct transfer of heat from the water to the metal of the core is made possible through said fins.

According to the invention disclosed in this application there is. provided a core made up of strips bent around upon themselves in spaced relation to form core units adaptedto receive an intermediate or separator strip in such fashion that hexagonal air cells are produced. Each strip is formed with rows of indentions substantially of spherical formation whereby the air in passing through said cells is given a high degree of turbulence. In

other words, the air column is not free to slip through the cells but in its passage it must contact with the spherical obstruction and in passing therearound the molecules of the column are disturbed and interchanged to such extent that the outer molecules of the column first come in contact with the metal and then are displaced to permit the inner molecules to come in contact with said metal whereby substantially all the molecules of said column make s eh contact with greater resultan heat transfer, as will be readily understood. Also the fins 3 according to this invention are preferably closed tightly through their length. should also be observed that the separator strip of this application is so cut and distorted that there are actual passages therethrough and should an obstruction occur in one of the air cells air from another cell is free to'reach the obstructed cell through said passages.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts constituting the article, as well as the steps and combinations of steps constituting the method without departing from the spirit of the inventionand therefore it is not desired to be limited to the foregoing except as may be demanded by the claims.

What is claimed is 1. The herein described radiator unitcomprising outer walls formed from sheet metal folded to provide a plurality of fins the double walls of which are in tight contact, said sheet bent upon itself with a separator strip between and the ends of said sheet secured together in a fin to provide an impervious unit wall, the portions of said sheet between said fins provided each with a plurality of indentions arranged in a row said indentions meeting said fins to provide between each vertical pair of indentions a lip, and a serrated flanged edge portion on each side of said sheet for interfittingly engaging the serrated edge portion of a similarly formed adjacent unit.

2. The herein described radiator unit comprising outer walls formed from sheet metal folded to provide a plurality of fins, said sheet bent upon itself with said fins inwardly disposed in staggered relation with a separator strip between and the ends of said sheet secured together in a fin to provide an impervious unit wall, the portions of said sheet between said fins provided each with a plurality of spherical indentions arranged in a row, said indentions in vertical alignment and meeting said fins to provide between each vertical pair of indentions in one wall a lip disposed opposite a row of indentions in the other wall whereby positive turbulence is given to the water flowing between said walls, and a serrated flanged edge portion on each side of said sheet for int'erfittingly engaging the serrated edge portion of a similarly formed adjacent unit, the two units so joined forming therebetween a water tube comprising the vertical series of said indentions.

3. The herein described radiator unit comprising outer walls formed from sheet metal folded to provide a plurality of fins, said sheet bent upon itself with a separator strip between and the ends of said sheet secured together in a fin to provide an impervious unit wall, the portions of said sheet between said fins provided each with an abutment and a row of spherical indentions on each side of said abutment, the indentions of each row meeting said fins and each other, a serrated flanged edge portion on each side of said sheet for interfittingly engaging the serrated edge portion of a similarly formed adjacent unit, the two units joined and soldered under pressure form therebetween a Water tube comprising the said indentions, as well as to form a cellular air conducting structure in each unit, said air-cellular structure comprising said separator strip and all of said fins in staggered interfitting heat conducting relationship therewith.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WELLINGTON W. MUIR. 

